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Inside an Auto Repair Shop and at Other Makeshift Performance Environments, Isochrone OCX Is a Worthy Complement to the Mixing Desk

Austin, TX, March 27, 2012 – Every spring, thousands of artists and tens of thousands of record industry professionals flock to Austin, TX for a jam-packed schedule of live music showcases featuring everyone from young, up-and-coming bands to seasoned veteran performers. For six days, live music can be heard at almost any time of day emerging from every conceivable venue in downtown Austin, from the city’s bars, clubs and concert halls to churches, parks and empty lots.

One such makeshift venue – an auto repair shop – this year served as the main stage at the BandPage HQ, where FOH engineer/system tech and production manager Patrick Mundy used an Antelope Audio Isochrone OCX master clock to ensure PA system clarity in the acoustically unfriendly environment. “This was my second year of working showcases at the festival and my second year bringing my Antelope clock,” says Mundy.

BandPage is a popular application developed by RootMusic of San Francisco that launched in 2010. It runs in Facebook and allows artists to create customized fan pages.

The OCX does a fantastic job of stabilizing a digital mixing console when running high channel counts, he continues. “When you build up that much information on a digital desk without having the stabilization of the clocking you can get unfavorable results. Clocking your digital console with an Antelope clock is like turbocharging your desk. The difference between clocked and non-clocked audio is extremely noticeable. I don’t like to work without it.”

Mundy was part of the crew from DBS Sound in Los Angeles who teamed up with Austin’s Miller Pro Audio to handle audio at the BandCamp HQ’s three venues, comprising Empire Automotive, Club 606 and an adjoining outdoor patio. “I mixed FOH for such artists as Porter Robinson, Thomas Wynn and the Believers, Daedelus, TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke & Lunice), Das Racist, Nico Vega, Imagine Dragons, Robert DeLong, Saint Motel, Toy, Escort, Henry Clay People and many more,” he reports. “We also had appearances from such artists as J. Cole and Chairlift, who carried their own FOH engineers.”

Jeffrey Ehrenberg at Vintage King Audio initially introduced Mundy to Antelope Audio’s master clocks in 2008. Mundy purchased an Isochrone 10M Rubidium atomic master clock and an OCX for his Pro Tools|HD3 recording rig, and in 2009 permanently racked the OCX into a two-space unit and began to use it on all of his live shows.

“The OCX is a staple on my gigs from small corporate events to large arena festivals and everything in between,” says Mundy. “I find the clock and its jitter reduction allows me to get to the core of the sound and bring a better mix to listeners. It makes my life easier and I’m able to have more fun just being a front of house engineer and bringing out the natural qualities of the music versus trying to fix artifacts.”

Antelope Audio Zodiac D-to-A converters also made an appearance in Austin this year in the 45-foot UniqueSquared Mobile Studio bus. The mobile recording studio, outfitted with Sennheiser products, featured a number of listening stations where Zodiac DACs were paired with Sennheiser’s flagship HD 800 plus HD 700 headphones.